Film-cleaning device.



J. J. ORMSBY.

FILM CLEANING DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED MAYIZ. 1915.

Patented Mar. 21, 1916.

I/VVENTOR JOHN J'. ORMSBY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

FILM-CLEANING- DEVICE.

Application filed May 12, 1915'. Serial No. 27,593.

"simple and durable means for the purpose above indicated, that shall be adapted for thoroughly cleaning both sides of the-film without injuring the same, or subjecting it to undue tension.

Another object is to provide a film-cleaning device comprising a pair of cleaning shoes associated with the respective film reels and arranged to act. concurrently upon opposite sides of the film.

Still another object is to provide for readily throwing either or both of the cleaning shoes to an inoperative position Where they are free from the reels and do not interfere with the removal or replacement of a film.

Other objects and advantages of my invention will be set forth hereinafter, and in order that my invention may be thoroughly understood, I will now proceed to describe the same in the following specification and then point out the novel features thereof in appended claims.

Referring to the drawings: Figure 1 is i an elevation of a set of film-reels provided with a film and equipped with a film-cleaning device embodying my invention. A seetional elevation of one of the cleaning shoes of the device is shown in Fig. 2. Fig. 3 is an elevation partially in section, taken on the line 33 of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a sectional plan view on the line 44 of Fig. 1.

In the drawings, 10 designates a table or base on which reel brackets 11 and 12 are mounted. The reels 18 and 19 are alike and each preferably comprises a" hub 13 and a flange or disk 14. Extending laterally from each bracket is a pin or shaft 15 on which I one of the reels is rotatively mounted. The

reels and their supports may be arranged and constructed 'inany suitable manner.

A film 16 is wound on the reel 18 and as Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 21, 1916.

shown in Fig. 1 is being transferred to the reel 19, one end'of the film being already wound thereon. The reel 19 has a crank handle 21 for the its shaft.

The film-cleaning device with which my invention is particularly concerned, compurpose of turning it on prises a pair of shoes 22 and supports 23 therefor. Each of the supports comprises a base 24 which is secured in any suitable manner to the table 1O, an arm 25.connected to the base 24 by a hinge 26 at one end and to the shoe 22 by a hinge 27 at its opposite end. A spring 28 which is afiixed to an intermediate point in the length of the arm 25 by an eye 29 or some other suitable means, tends to hold the shoe in engagement with the periphery of the film cylinder on the adjacent reel. The spring is preferably attached to the base 24 by a special hook 30 having a. shoulder 31 which holds the end of the spring when the shoe is active, and a hook 32 at the end of 'a long arm which is adapted to.be swung into the position shown in broken lines in thedrawlngs and to be engaged by the end of the spring when it is desired to throw the shoe into an inoperative position, by swinging the arm 25 away from the reel about the hinge 26 as a pivot.

Referring specially to Figs. 2, 3 and 4, the shoe comprises in addition to the body or block which is designated by the reference character 22 and has a cylindrically curved concave engaging surface 33, a pad 34 of felt or like material which is cemented to the curved surface and a strip 35 of fabric which is stretched across the arc of the shoe to form a yielding cord. The ends of the strip are held in position by spring clips 36 which are secured to the back of the shoe .until it assumes an upright position shown at the right in Fig. 1. The springs 28 are under tension at all times when the shoe is operatlve and the pressure thus produced is calculated to thoroughly clean the filnr without the possibility of injuring it.

Attention 'is directed to the fact that one of the shoes acts upon one side of the film while the other shoe acts upon the opposite side of the film. Therefore, no part of the film escapes engagement with the cleaning surface of the shoe. The stretched fabric 35 yields and accurately conforms to the curvature of the film rolls, although this curvature is necessarily constantly changing, and the curvature of the surface 33 of the shoe itself can only be made to conform closely to'the surface of the roll when the reel is nearly full. When it is desired to replace a roll the hook 30 is swung through an angle of 180 degrees into the position shown in broken lines in the drawings, thereby releasing tension of the spring 28 and permitting' the arm 25 to be swung downwardly as i already explained. By this means the shoe the shoes'tend to avoid serious accidents by holding the rolls independently of each other. For example, should the film break between reels, only short ends would be released, whereaswith the arrangements used hitherto to my lmowledge, one or both of the rolls under the same conditions would be released and the film spread abroad. The fire hazard is consequently reduced by the use of my invention.

It is evident that structural variations maybe effected within the spirit and scope of my invention, and I intend that only such limitations be imposed as are indicated in the appended claims.

What I' claim is:

1. A film-cleaning device comprising a shoe having a concave padded surface adapted to engage the surface of a film roll, means for pivotally supporting the shoe to permit it to seat itself upon the roll, and means for pressing the shoe into engagement with the roll.

2. A film-cleaning device comprising a shoe having a concave padded surface adapted to engage the surface of a film roll, a swinging support for the shoe, a pivotal connection between'the shoe and its support, a

spring arranged to act upon the support to press the shoe onto the roll, and a releasable connection for said spring.

3. A film-cleaning device comprising a shoe having a concave surface, a yieldable cleaning strip adapted to be stretched across said surface, and means for releasably attaching said strip to the shoe,.a swinging support for the shoe, a pivotal connection between the shoe and its support, a spring arranged to act upon the support to press the shoe toward a film roll, and a releasable connection for said spring.

4. A device for simultaneously cleaning both sides of a film, comprising means for rotatably supporting two film rolls in the same plane, a pair of shoes each having a concave padded surface, swinging supports for the shoes, a pivotal connection between each shoe and its support, said shoes and supports being oppositely disposed and the shoes being in alinement with the film roll supports, and springs arranged to act upon 7 the swinging supports to press them toward each other.

5. A device for simultaneously cleaning both sides of a film, comprising means for rotatably supporting two film rolls in the same plane, a pair of shoes each having a a concave surface, a yieldable cleaning strip adapted to be stretched across said surface and means for releasably attaching the strip to the shoe, swinging supports for the shoes, a pivotalconnection between each shoe and its support, said shoes and supports being oppositely disposed and the. shoes being in alinement with the film roll supports, springs arranged to act upon the swinging supports to pre'ss them toward each other, and a fastener for one end of'each spring comprising an elongated hook adapted to be swung into one position to hold the spring in tension and in another position to release the spring and permit the shoe to be swung away fromthe film roll. In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, this 8th day of May, 1915.

. JOHN J. ORMSBY. 

